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There he is, in the flesh, without the distorting lens of TV between us, wearing a patriotic colour-schemed outfit of red tie, white shirt and blue business suit. His face is florid, or tan, I can’t tell which. He is taller than expected, and fleshier. There are bigger men present — his body guards, I suspect — but his is that undefinable presence that takes up more room. The hair. You want to know about the hair. Everyone does. It is a flourish. On top, it flows forward to the forehead where it does a fine, serpentine U-turn, while along the sides it sweeps over the tops of his ears like rows of cirrus clouds. It is — another surprise — pale to the point of being almost white, and shot through in places with orange and blond. His hair, of course, has been the piece that launched a thousand jokes, but I thought, with some sympathy, unexpected on my part, that Donald Trump is 67. He could be forgiven if, like many men his age, his hair has become a preoccupation of his vanity.

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One day, about eight years ago, in the fairy tale principality of Monaco, Olesya Krakhmalyova, took a bite of something and the experience struck like a lightning bolt. It would change her life. The electric jolt was a Laduree macaron. “It was the best thing I’d ever tasted and I’m not a dessert person,” she […]

We are not yet far enough removed from the 1970s and ’80s that you can float the idea of using crystals and semi-precious stones in home decor without people conjuring up shocking blue geodes or hippy shrines, and yet there has been a resurgence of these materials.

Abbotsford’s Adrian Solgaard is taking an entrepreneurial stance against theft. The 29-year-old, who’s now living in Spain, got the idea for Lifepack — a solar-powered, anti-theft backpack — after a friend’s bag was stolen from beneath a cafe table.

There are a host of adult references in Zootopia, the latest animated bauble from Disney. There’s a lengthy shout-out to The Godfather, and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to Breaking Bad. But the film’s biggest debt is to 48 Hours, an early mismatched-buddy-cop comedy that put a cop (Nick Nolte) and a wisecracking felon (Eddie Murphy) on the trail of an even bigger criminal.

Re: Catholic hospitals wrestle with assisted death, Feb 26
You don’t need Catholic hospitals to kill people. If society really wants killing centres, it should ask government to build them, not coerce institutions that want no part of it.

The Vancouver team behind Spare Rides, a new ride-on-demand app that pairs drivers with riders along the Broadway corridor, had modest expectations when the commuter-share business launched on Monday. “In the first two days we’ve had 400 people sign up, which is insane. We were hoping for 20 people,” said CEO Kristoffer Vik Hansen, a UBC computer engineering grad who co-founded Spare Rides with university pals Josh Andrews and Alexey Indeev. “We were actually hoping for a quiet launch. Right now we are doing what we are calling a drivers’ launch, we are trying to build up the mass of drivers who want to be using this app for their everyday commute.”

If the theme of this year’s TED Conference in Vancouver was “dream,” as in dream of possibilities, the weeklong program achieved that with synchronously flying drones, flashy displays of augmented reality technology, and impassioned talks about remaking society. Every year the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference lures more than 1,400 well-heeled attendees who shell out more than $8,500 each for the right to sit in the custom-made amphitheatre and listen to engaging and interesting speakers.

A North Cowichan man sent a drone sky-high and tracked down his stolen dirt bike, stashed in the woods by a thief. It was only natural for software developer Ryan Sandnes, 36, to turn to technology when he discovered his purple 1995 Honda CR250 bike had been stolen.

In the soggy killing fields and marshes of South Delta, timing is everything. The provincial Wildlife Act and federal migratory birds regulations prohibit hunting of waterfowl more than 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset — assuming you can find the guilty parties and prove who took the shot.

A Vancouver company that creates customized 3D printed insoles has reached more than double its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 US with 15 days left in its Kickstarter campaign. Wiivv, started in 2014 with headquarters in Vancouver and research and development and manufacturing in San Diego, is the creator of BASE, 3D printed insoles customized for individuals based on data captured by their smartphones.

When Lisa Papania learned about the demise of Champlain Video last December, a beloved local hub for families and film buffs, the Killarney resident decided to turn the loss into an opportunity for her community.

Giving a glitzy personalized piece of jewelry doesn’t have to require months of planning. It’s as easy as stopping by Nordstrom Vancouver. Until Dec. 22, shoppers will receive complimentary engraving with the purchase of a piece from British luxury jewelry designer Monica Vinader.

I am weary. Weary of writing about bad news that never seems to change, weary of telling the same story over and over, weary that no matter how important the message being imparted, we as a people seem unwilling to tackle the societal dysfunction staring us right in the face.

In the first of our holiday gift guides, we take a look at home entertainment. Look in our Weekend Extra, where I teamed up with our arts editor Francois Marchand to compare video streaming options. In this week’s tech toys, I try out a new curved TV and look at some options for adding streaming entertainment to your home system.

An old idea is seeing new life as Knives and Forks Community Investment Co-op, a new co-op created to lend money to B.C. food businesses. While modern co-ops have their roots in the 19th century, “as an investment mechanism, it’s new in B.C.,” said William Azaroff, Vancity vice-president of community investment and a founding member of the co-op.

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